Charges filed against Brockton driver who hit Abington girl

Seth Jacobson and Mikaela Slaney

Tuesday

Jun 23, 2009 at 12:01 AMJun 23, 2009 at 10:17 PM

Abington Police Chief David Majenski said charges have been taken out against a driver who hit a 5-year-old Abington girl in a crosswalk last week. Brockton resident Nicole Barros, a driver in her early 20s, has been charged with driving to endanger and failure to stop for a pedestrian in a crosswalk.

Abington Police Chief David Majenski said charges have been taken out against a driver who hit a 5-year-old Abington girl in a crosswalk last week.

Brockton resident Nicole Barros, a driver in her early 20s, has been charged with driving to endanger and failure to stop for a pedestrian in a crosswalk. Majenski also noted the van she was driving was not inspected properly.

Majenski said Barros was not arrested last week but said, "She will have a hearing at Brockton District Court in the near future.”

Five-year-old Abington resident Brandy Rix, who was struck and dragged by the van last week, is now on her way to recovery, according to her family.

According to the girl’s great-uncle, Fred Villa of Abington, Rix suffered a fracture on her skull, a broken pelvis and hip, and was flown the day of the accident — June 17 — by MedFlight helicopter to Boston Medical Center.

Villa said Rix’s injuries were not as severe as his family originally thought.

“Brandy did good, she went into surgery earlier today,” Villa said last Friday afternoon. “She got out of surgery doing very well, the extent of the breaks are not as bad as they thought. They’re going to put her on crutches this afternoon, get her up on her feet. She’s going through the healing process. It could have been severe, but it was just a fractured skull, it didn’t get into the worst part.”

Villa added Brandy’s mother, Laurianne Veazie had been staying with her at the hospital, noting her father, Dan Rix had been visiting Rix as often as possible.

Majenski said police were already thinking about the potential charges last week, immediately after the accident.

“The preliminary investigation would indicate a driving-to-endanger situation,” Abington Police Chief David Majenski said on Thursday.

The incident took place between 3 and 4 p.m. last Wednesday afternoon as Nix, her mother and her siblings were in a crosswalk on North Avenue in Abington, according to Majenski.

Majenski explained that at the time of the incident, one vehicle, traveling east, stopped at the crosswalk to let Nix and her family cross. Barros, who was traveling west on the roadway, though, did not stop, and hit Nix, Majenski said.

“I can’t think of any reason why (Barros) did not stop,” Majenski said, adding that there “were no skid marks” at the scene of the accident.

After the accident, Majenski said he filed an “immediate threat” report against Barros, which he said all police departments across the state have the power to do.

He explained that police can file these reports with the Registry of Motor Vehicles when they believe a certain driver is a detriment to the roadways, whether that’s based on previous driving incidents, a medical condition or a “cognitive issue.”

Majenski said based on a given immediate threat report, the Registry of Motor Vehicles makes a determination as to whether the individual in question should have their license suspended.

The measure worked. Barros’ license was revoked by the Registry last last week.

“People don’t realize how many of these incidents there are on an annual basis,” Majenski said.

On Wednesday, while police were dealing with the incident involving Nix, an elderly woman in her 80s drove into a support column at HarborOne Bank in Abington. Majenski said an immediate threat report was expected to be filed on that driver by last Friday.

So far this year, Majenski said there have been several incidents in Abington constituting immediate threats. Earlier in the year, an 84-year-old woman struck a utility pole, Majenski said, adding that the individual told police “the tire had fallen off her car” prior to the incident but police found no evidence of that.

Majenski also described another incident this year, where a 70-year-old man left his driving lane and drove head-on into an oncoming vehicle. In that case, Majenski said, “The operator of the car did not remember the accident” and was rushed to the hospital.

In yet another incident, Majenski said a 74-year-old woman found herself unable to operate her vehicle in a Wal-Mart parking lot because of a medical condition.

In 2008 there were 11 incidents that Majenski said fell under the immediate threat category, and in 2007 there were 20 such cases.

“These numbers are really alarming,” he said. “People don’t realize that we’re dealing with this all the time, and it’s not just the elderly drivers.”

Abington Mariner

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